Many household vacuum cleaners have a rotary brush driven by an electric motor through an 0-ring type belt encircling the brush and received on a pulley connected to the drive shaft of the motor. Manufacturers of vacuum cleaners often recommend changing the belts twice a year. The elastic belt is under considerable tension and it is difficult for the average person to install the elastic belt on the shaft. The difficulty in installing a new belt often necessitates seeking a professional repair service at great inconvenience and expense to the user.
Various tools are known, mainly in the automotive field, for applying a drive belt to a pulley. One such tool is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,505,216 which describes a tool for installing a fan belt to drive a cooling fan of an automobile engine. The tool has a shoulder to engage a flange of a pulley as the belt rests on the head of the tool. The tool is then moved along the edge of the flange until the belt slips into the pulley groove.
Another tool is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,621,529 which describes a tool for removing and applying fan belts for automobiles. The tool has a long limb to be seated in the groove of the pulley as the belt rests on the short limb. The tool is then rocked and manipulated step by step to stretch the belt onto the pulley.
However, these prior devices are not adapted for safely applying a drive belt to a vacuum cleaner because neither tool can securely remain in the belt groove of a vacuum cleaner drive shaft while applying the belt resulting in possible injury to the user's fingers.